USDA United States Forest Shasta-Trinity National Forest 3644 Avtech Parkway

giginDepartment of

Service Supervisor's Office Redding, CA 96002 Agriculture 530-226-2500

TDD: 530-226-2490

File Code: 1010 Date: November 17, 2015

Mr. Raymond A Mosley Director Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Administration Attention: Scheduling Unit 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20001

Dear Mr. Mosley:

This is to certify that the CD labeled Trinity Post Fire Hazard Reduction and Salvage Project NOI contains a true copy of the original signed document. Three original signed documents are enclosed. Please process for publication.

Call Brenda Olson at 530-226-2422 to confirm the publication date and file time and for answers to any questions.

Sincerely,

/Li DAVID R. MYERS Forest Supervisor

cc: Thomas Hall, Brenda Olson, Talitha Derksen, Keli McElroy

Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper 11114

[3410-11- P]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Shasta-Trinity National Forest; California; Trinity Post Fire Hazard Reduction and

Salvage

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The proposed action would treat approximately 8,100 acres to reduce

hazardous conditions within a buffer along open roads that burned in the 2015 wildfires.

Standing dead and downed trees would be utilized to the extent practicable.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received by [insert

date 30 days from date of publication in the Federal Register]. The draft environmental

impact statement is expected April 2016 and the final environmental impact statement is

expected August 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Trinity Post Fire Hazard Reduction and

Salvage Project, Attn: Brenda Olson, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, 3644 Avtech

Parkway, Redding, CA 96002. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to comments-

pacificsouthwest-shasta-trinity@fsled.us , or via facsimile to 530-226-2475.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brenda Olson by phone at 530-226-

2422, or by email at brendaolson@fs.fed.us .

Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the

Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8

p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest and Six Rivers National Forest have

experienced wildfire on approximately 220,000 acres as a result of lighting in 2015. The

majority of acres affected are the result of a July 30, 2015 lightning event. Much of the

fire areas burned through National Forest System lands, but a number of private

landowners were also affected. Approximately 161,000 acres of the Shasta-Trinity

National Forest were burned. Wildfires affected most land allocations including

designated Wilderness, Adaptive Management Areas, and Late-Successional Reserve, as

well as Inventoried Roadless Areas. Fires burned in a mosaic of intensities; acres burned

have been categorized into high, moderate and low severity based on Rapid Assessment

of Vegetation Condition After Wildfire (RAVG) data. Five fire complexes and one

separate fire burned on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest:

• The Fork Complex near the communities of Hayfork, Post Mountain, and

Wildwood (34,500 acres; 8,900 acres of high and moderate severity);

• The South Complex north and east of the community of Hyampom (29,400 acres;

5,900 acres high and moderate severity);

• The Mad River Complex near the communities of Mad River, Ruth, and Forest

Glen (39,200 acres; 6,600 acres high and moderate severity);

• The Route Complex near the communities of Mad River and Hyampom (35,700

acres; 6,300 acres high and moderate severity);

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• The River Complex near the Hoopa Reservation, the communities of Burnt Ranch

and Denny, and within the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area (78,600 acres; 17,100

acres high and moderate severity); and

• The Saddle Fire northwest of the town of Hyampom (1,500 acres; 600 acres high

and moderate severity).

A portion of the areas that burned at moderate and high severity had conifer forest

cover prior to the fires (other acres were brush, grasslands or oak woodlands). The acres

of conifer and mixed conifer forest that burned at high severity generally have no

remaining live trees, and the areas that burned at moderate severity also have a high

likelihood of deforestation or large pockets of mortality due to fire-injury. Many trees

showing signs of live branches or tops immediately following the fire will be lost due to

cambium death or secondary mortality from insects compounded by years of drought.

The areas affected by the 2015 wildfires on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest

include vegetation along 387 miles of road (353 miles of National Forest System roads,

32 miles administered by state and county). Of these 387 miles, 248 miles are open to the

public, including 233 miles through National Forest System lands. The vegetation along

these roads experienced wildfire at varying degrees of intensity. Forested lands

experiencing moderate and high intensity fire has resulted in a substantial number of dead

and dying trees. Structural integrity of fire-killed trees has been compromised and it is

expected many of them will fall during a wind or storm event.

Current conditions within the burned area differ from the desired condition as

identified in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

(Forest Plan; 1995). Trees that were killed by the fire become less stable and increase the

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risk to all forest users. Once this material is on the ground and combined with the dead

brush, fire behavior is likely to be more intense and more difficult to control. Because of

the expected future fire behavior and the elevated risk of fire killed trees falling on

firefighters, wildfire suppression strategies would be limited. Desired future conditions

would be safe firefighter and public access; conditions that lead to a slower rate of

wildfire spread and reduced intensity, with associated increased effectiveness of initial

attack by firefighters; and roadside conditions that could be used as a line of defense for

control of wildfires.

Within areas experiencing large scale disturbance on the Shasta-Trinity National

Forest in 2015 due to wildfire, the purpose of this project is to move towards the desired

conditions in the following ways:

1. Reduce hazards (i.e. fire-killed trees and excessive fuels) that threaten public and

firefighter safety along open National Forest System, County, and State roads;

2. Sustain and establish forest cover; and,

3. Within the treated areas, capture the economic value of felled trees and support

the economies of local communities by providing forest products.

Based on the Forest Plan and post fire assessment, we have identified a need to:

• Provide for public safety and protection of structures by managing fuel loading,

distribution and arrangement within Wildland Urban Interface for low flame

lengths and rate of spread (Forest Plan 4-18);

• Remove danger/hazard trees (Forest Plan 4-26);

• Reduce surplus activity fuels that remain after meeting wildlife, riparian, soil and

other environmental needs (Forest Plan, pg. 4-17);

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• Create conditions that will support the restoration of fire to its natural role in the

ecosystem (Forest Plan 4-4).

• Establish forest stands at densities appropriate to contribute to forest harvest in

the future and to maintain wildlife habitat (Forest Plan, pg. 4-154).

• Quickly recover the monetary value of wood through salvage and sale, where

feasible and appropriate, to provide economic stimulus to local communities

(Forest Plan 4-5).

Proposed Action

Dead vegetation will be treated on National Forest System lands along 233 miles

of roads open to the public (i.e. National Forest System Roads (NFS), county roads, and

state highways) that burned during the 2015 wildfire season. Treatments are proposed

along 233 miles of public roads which cross National Forest System lands, including:

• 153 miles of NFS Maintenance Level 2 (accessible with high clearance vehicles)

roads;

• 34 miles of NFS Maintenance Level 3 (accessible with passenger cars) roads;

• 19 miles of NFS Maintenance Level 4 (paved) roads; and

• 27 miles of state and county roads.

Treatments along these roads could include:

• Remove or treat dead vegetation (using one of the "treatment types" listed below)

within a 300 foot total width buffer. Width of the buffer on either side of the road

would change but would always total 300 feet; i.e. if conditions lend to a wider

treatement on the uphill side, the uphill side may be treated up to 275 feet from

the road and the downhill side would be treated for 25 feet from the road. The

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area of treatment is approximately 8,100 acres. The minimum treatment area

along either side of the road will be 25 feet. Treatment types for both initial entry

and maintenance could include:

o Hand felling of dead trees and brush. Dead vegetation will be identified at

the time of treatment.

o Mastication, which pulverizes or chops standing trees and logs into small

particles. This treatment can include mowing, mulching, or chipping.

o Lopping woody debris (slash) and scattering around the treated area,

which redistributes woody material.

o Hand piling slash, which reduces surface fuels.

o Machine piling slash, which reduces surface fuels.

o Pile burning, which reduces surface fuels.

o Jackpot burning, which is a burning method used to reduce heavy

intermittent fuel concentrations, where fuels are not continuous enough to

carry a broadcast fire.

o Broadcast burning, which is a burning method used where heavy

continuous fuel concentrations exist.

o Chipping, which pulverizes or chops trees, brush, and logs into small

particles.

• Maintain treated areas through understory burning, where feasible.

• Utilize wood products whenever possible. This can include salvage logs,

commercial or personal firewood, biomass removal, etc.

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o Large timber sales are expected to be feasible on up to 128 miles of the

roads proposed for treatment.

• Provide for future forest cover through planting, utilizing a species composition

consistent with historic conditions, with spacing between seedlings of 18 to 30

feet.

• Create a control line on the outside edge of treatment areas where necessary to

maintain fuel reductions with prescribed fire.

• Where appropriate, stumps of freshly cut conifers will be treated with an EPA-

registered borate compound to prevent spread of Heterobasidion root disease.

• Trees or snags that are imminent hazards to the road and/or operations would

felled; trees that are felled outside the treatment buffer would be left onsite.

• No treatments are proposed within Wilderness.

• Additional Resource Protection Measures will be developed to address resource

concerns for wildlife, watersheds, soils and other issues that are identified.

Fuels reduction treatment goals are to:

• Reduce downed logs to 10-20 tons per acre. Downed logs includes woody

material >3-inches in diameter including fuels created by salvage and suppression

actions.

• Reduce dead brush by 50-100%.

Responsible Official

David R. Myers, Forest Supervisor, Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

The Forest Supervisor will decide whether to implement the proposed action, take an

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alternative action that meets the purpose and need or take no action.

Scoping Process

This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides the development of the

environmental impact statement. This project is within Wildland Urban Interface and as

such is consistent with the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA), which

contains provisions to expedite hazardous fuels reduction and forest restoration projects

on federal lands. Project authorized under HFRA are defined under Section 102(a) of the

act and are designed to actively involve the public (Section 104(e) and (f) of the act). In

an effort to provide for collaborative design of this project or alternatives, you are invited

to participate in open public meetings at the following locations and times: Hyampom

Community Center on November 30, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.; Weaverville Board of

Supervisor's Chambers on December 1, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.; Trinity County Fairgrounds

dining hall in Hayfork on December 2, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.; Ruth Lake Community

Services District Hall in Mad River on December 3, 2015; and, Burnt Ranch School on

December 4, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.. Additional project information is available on the project

website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=48060.

It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in such

manner that they are useful to the agency's preparation of the environmental impact

statement. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of the comment

period and should clearly articulate the reviewer's concerns and alternative means of

meeting the purpose and need.

Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and

addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for this proposed

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action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however,

anonymous comments will not provide the respondent with standing to participate in

subsequent administrative review or judicial review. An Emergency Situation

Determination will be requested for this project consistent with regulations at 36 CFR

218.21. An Emergency Situation Determination would eliminate the 30-day Objection

period prior to a decision.

11/17/2015

DAVID R. MYERS (Date)

Forest Supervisor

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